Exhaust-box for cans.



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EXHAUST BOX FOR CANS. v APPLICATION FILED nov.17,191a.

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Patented May 26,

INVENTOI? 1 426 yam 14k kz/yw-z A TTORIVE ALBER'1'"R. 'rI-romrson, orsemi JOSE, onmnonum, assronon ro'mnnsou- BARN GBOVER MFG. CALIFORNIA.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

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, Patented May 26, 1914.

Application filed 11mm 17, 1913. Serial No. 801,490.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, ALBERT R. THOMP- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara stance suchmachines have derived their common title of exhaust boxes.

The object of'my invention is to provide a simple and compact machine ofthis class, in which the cans will be conducted uninterruptedly andevenly without danger of spilling their contents, through an extensiveand effective heating course, and to this end my invention consists inthe novel exhaust box which I shall hereinafter fully describe byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a generalvertical longitudinal section through the box, the interior parts beingshown partly in elevation and partly in section- Fig. 2 is a brokensectional plan view of the machine. Fig. 3 is a sectionalplan view, indetail, of the discharging device. Fig. 4 is an elevational detail ofthe transferring means for the cans during their. course through thebox. Fig. 5 is an elevational detail of one of the guides for the feedof the cans to the box.

1 is the outside case, shell or box, to which heat is supplied in anyusual manner, as, for example, by the steam pipes 2, shown in Fig. 2.

3 are the legs supportingrthe box. Within the box rise standards 4.these, divided, as shown in Fig.2, into two groups of four each incircular series. To one of these circular series of standards is fixed avertically disposed helically directed track 5 which is best in the formof-an angle iron, as seen clearly in Fig. 1. To the other circularseries of standards is fixed a similar helical track 6. Rising in theaxis of the helical track 5 and suitably mounted in the box, is a shaft7 which carries a lower here are eight of spider 8 and an upper spider9. To and between the peripheries of these spiders are secured thevertical spaced pusher bars 10 which, as shown in Fig. 2', are, in theirbest form, ofangle section. In similar manner another shaft 11 risesinthe axis of the helical track 6, said shaft carrying a lower spider 12and an upper ider 13, between which are secured the vertical spacedpusher bars 14. The two series of pusher bars 10 and 14 rotate inopposite directions, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2, their rotationbeing effected by means of the power connections, shown in Fig. 1. Theseconnections are the main shaft 15 with fast and loose pulleys 16 andpinion 17, the counter shaft .18 with gear 19 meshing with the pinion17, the pinion 19 on the counter shaft meshing with a gear 20 on thevertical shaft 7, and the pinion 21 on the counter shaft meshing with agear 22 on the vertical shaft 11.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that if a can beintroduced to the bottom of the helicaltrack 5, it will be there en agedb one of the pusher-bars 10 and wil then, by the revolutionof said bar,be

carried upon said track about the shaft axis 7, and be forced up througha, helical course to the top of said track. Then if this can betransferred to the top of the other heli cal track 6, it will, b one ofthe pusher bars 14(, be carried own on said track through ahelicalcourse to the bottom of said track, at which point it may bedelivered. Thus an extensive and well-conceived course is provided forthe can, during which it will be subjected to the usual first-cook orexhaust common in this art. In order to carry out this operation, theessential features are the meansfor introducin the can to its course,the means for trans erring 1t at the summit of said course, and themeans for delivering it from the end of its course. Taking these up inthe order stated, the feedin means are as follows :-23 is the feed disk,projecting into an inlet opening 24 in the end]of ..theflbox 1, andoverlying at its projecting'nortion the lowermost coil or commencementof the helical track l5,-as isbest seen in Fig. 1. This disk 23 iscarried and rotated .by a shaft 25- mounted in a bracket 26 projectingfrom the box 1, and said shaft is rotated by a bevel pinion 27 on itslower end, which meshes with a bevel pinion 28 on the countershaft 18.

29 is a fixed guide arm, secured at its inner end to the lowest coil ofthe track 5. The arm projects outwardly through the opening 24 in thebox and lies above the feed disk 23, being so directed thereover, asseen in Fig. 2, as to form, in conjunction with a guide flange 30, alsosecured to the box 1, and projecting through its opening, a passagewayon the outer surface of the disk, through which said disk in rotating isadapted to carry the cans 31 indicated by the dotted circles. The outerend of the guide-arm 29 is bent to the center and finds support aboutthe axis of the disk. The guide arm 29 where it passes through theopening 24 in the box end is cut out or arched to leave an opening 32,as seen in Fig. 5, and in this opening plays a yielding wall 33 which ispivoted to the arm at 34, and is affected by a spring 35 to remainpressed forward to normally close the arm opening 32. The rotation ofthe feed d sk 23 is in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2.-Now, it will be seen, that as the entrance passageway between the guidearm 29 and the guide flange 30 leads into the track 5 at an intersectingangle, in order to deposit the cans thereon, there must occur a point atwhich and a time when the outer edges of the revolving verticalpusherbars .10 which must engage the cans, will so narrow saidpassageway as to tend to crush the cans if cought between the bars andthe arm 29. To lessen this tendency I have found it desirable to rotatethe feed disk 23 at a greater peripheral speed than the speed ofrevolution of the pusher bars, andthis difference of rotation is plainlyindicated by the transmitting gears and pinions shown in Fig. 1. Theeffect of this is to so hurry the procession of cans, that even thoughthey sildingly crowd back in the line, the foremost can will always beready to leap in quickly, as it were,behind a pass ing pusher bar, andin front of the succeeding bar, before the latter, moving relativelyslowly, can have a chance to catch it on the side and crush it. Inaddition to this precaution and in order to relieve any possiblecrushing tendency, I provide the yielding wall 33 against which the cansbear at this critical point, so that if pressure occurs, the wall willmove outward and relieve such pressure, thus allowing the pusher bar toproceed, and the can to pass in behind it.

The transfer means for the cans, at the summit of their course are asfollows Where the two helical tracks 5 and 6 approach each other attheir uppermost courses, their outer walls are cut out as shown at 36,in Fig. 2, so that said tracks are open for the passage of the cans fromone to the other. 37 is a fixed switch rail, the heel of which lies atthe far extremity of the cut out wall of the track 6, and its point liesin close against theperiphery of the upper spider 9 of the first seriesof pusher bars 10, the upper ends of said bars being so shortened as topass under said switch rail. Thus the switch-rail bridges the spacebetween the two helical tracks, and its point lies close enough in toget behind the cans to start them outward on the transfer movement. Nowas the pusher bars must pass under the switch rail, it follows that theyare too short at their tops to engage thecans and 'push them along atthe summit of the course. To provide for,this, it will be seen byreference to Fig. 1, that the upper spider 9' is flanged or arched overthe upper course of the helical track 5 and over the switch rail, asshown,

at 38, and said flange is provided with down-turned pusher studs 39adapted to engage the can sides from above, and thereby continue theadvance of the cans after the pusher bars have, on account of stoppingshort, ceased to affect said cans. Thus the cans are advanced by thepusher studs 39 to the switch rail 37 by which as shown by the dottedlines, said cans are diverted outwardly from the track 5 over to thetrack 6. Here they encounter similar overhead pusher-studs 40 on theupper spider 13 of the shaft 11, and by these studs they are pushedalong the track 6 far enough in on said track to be picked up by thepusher bars 14 which carry them on their downward helical course on saidtrack 6.

The delivery means are as follows:-As seen in Figs. 1 and 3, the end ofthe box 1 is provided with an opening 41, outside of which is thedischarge table 42 which is here shown as a disk. This table may be,though not necessarily, a rotating one, motion being impart-ed to it bya shaft 43 mounted in a bracket 44 extending from the box 1. A bevelpinion 45 on the lower end of the shaft meshes with a bevel pinion 46 onthe countershaft 18. The lower spider 12 of the shaft 11 has anoutwardly projecting can-supporting flange 47 which lies just within theexit opening 41 of the box, as

ried by the rotating flange 47, they are directed outwardly, while stillon said flange, by the switch rail 48 to and upon the dis charge table42, and thus by the joint ac tion of the flange 47 and the rail 48 theyare carried out of the box and delivered upon the table at a pointoutside said box, and said table rotating, as shown by the arrow in Fig.52, carries them to their destination.

' I claim 1. An exhaust box for cans comprising a heating box; a fixedvertically disposed helical track within the box; means for feeding thecans to the lower end of said track; a rotating series of pusher barsengaging the cans on the track and adapted to effect their upward travelthrough a helical course on said track to the top thereof; a secondfixed vertically disposed helical track within the box arranged besideand having a different axis from the first track; a second rotatingseries of pusher bars engaging the cans on the second track and adaptedto effect their downward travel through a helical course on said secondtrack from the top to the bottom thereof; meansfor transferring the cansfrom the top of the first helical track to the top of the second helicaltrack; and means for delivering the cans from the bottom of the secondtrack.

2. In an exhaust box for cans, and in combinationwith a heating box, apair of fixed vertically disposed helical tracks arranged side by sidewithin said box and having different axes; separate rotating series ofpusher bars one series for each helical track and arrangedconcentrically therewith; means for rotating one series of pusher barsin a direction to advance the cans on its coacting track through ahelicalcourse from bottom to top; means for rotating the other series ofpusher bars in a direction to advance the cans on its coacting trackthrough a helical course from top to bottom, and a fixed switch railextending between the tops of the two tracks to direct the cans from thetop of one track to the top of the other track.

3. In an exhaust box for cans, and in combination with a heating box, apair of fixed vertically disposed helical tracks arranged side by sidewithin said box and having different axes; separate rotating series ofpusher bars one series for eadh helical track and arrangedconcentrically therewith; means for rotating one series of pusher barsin a direction to advance the cans on its coacting track through ahelical course from bottom to top; means for rotating theother series ofpusher bars in a direction to advance the cans on its coacting trackthrough a helical course from top to bottom, a fixed switch railextending between the tops of the two tracks to direct the cans from thetop of one track to the top of the other track, and supplementaryrotating pushing devices engaging the cans from above to advance themalong said switch-rail.

4. In an exhaust box, and in combination with a heating box, a air offixed vertically disposed helical trac s arranged side by side withinthe box about different axes; a rotating series of vertical pusher barswithin and'coacting with said tracks, one series for each track, toadvance the cans upwardly on one track and downwardly on the othertrack; a rotating shaft in the axis ofeach series of pusher-bars, saidshafts each carrying a lower and an upper spider to which thepusher-bars are attached; a fixed switch-rail bridging the space betweenthe upper ends of the two helical tracks to direct the cans from one tothe other, said switch rail having its point overlying the upper ends ofthe pusher bars of the first track and extended to the inside of thecans to divert them outwardly; outwardly projecting flanges carried byeach upper spider and overlying the tops of the cans in the switchingregion; and pusher studs depending from said flanges to engage the cansfro-m above to advance them along the switch-rail from one track to theother.

5. In an exhaust box, and in combination with a heating-box having a canentrance opening, a fixed vertically disposed helical track within thebox having its lower terminal adjacent the entrance opening of said box;a rotating series of ,pusher-bars coacting with said track to advancethe cans thereon; a rotating feed disk projecting into the box throughits entrance opening and arranged with relation to the lower terminal ofthe track to deliver the cans thereto in the rotary path of the pusherbars; fixed guides overlying the feed disk and extending into theentrance opening of the box, said guides being so disposed as to form acan passage at an intersecting angle to the track and the rotary path ofthe pusher bars; and means for rotating the feed disk at a greaterperipheral speed than the speed of rotation of the pusher-bar series.

6. Inan exhaust box, and in combination with a heating box having a canentrance opening, a fixed vertically disposed helical track Within thebox having its lower terminal adjacent the entrance opening of said box;a. rotating series of pusher-bars coacting with said track to advancethe cans thereon; a rotating feed disk projecting into the box throughits entrance opening and arranged with relation to the lower'terminal ofthe track to deliver the cans thereto in the rotary path of the pusherbars; fixed guides overlying the feed disk and extending into theentrance opening of the box, said guides being so disposed as to form acan passage at an intersecting angle to the track and the rotary path ofthe pusherbars; and one of said guides having a yield inghwall in itsregion of approach to said pat a 7. In an exhaust box, and incombination with a heating box having a can entrance opening, a fixedvertically disposed helical-- thereon; a rotating feed disk projectinginto the box through its entrance opening and arranged with relation tothe lower terminal of the track to deliver the cans thereto in therotary path of the pusher bars; fixed guides overlying the feed disk andextendinginto the entrance opening of the box, said guides being sodisposed as to form a can passage at an intersecting angle to the trackand the rotary path of the pusher-bars, and one of said guides having ayielding Wall in its region of approach to said path; and means forrotating the feed disk at a greater peripheral speed than the speed ofrotation of the pusher-bar series.

8. In an exhaust box, and in combination with a heating box having a canexit opening, a fixed vertically disposed helical track within the boxhaving its lower terminal adjacent the exit opening of said box; arotating shaft in the axis of said track, said shaft carrying an upperand a lower spider; an outwardly extending flange carried by the lowerspider and adapted to receive the cans from the lower terminal of thetrack; a series of pusher bars carried by said spiders and adapted toadvance the cans on said track to its lower terminal and on to theflangeof the lower spider; a discharge table outside the exit opening ofthe box; and a fixed switch rail entering the exit opening of the boxabove the flange of the lower spider to direct the cans from the flangeof the lower spider outward through the exit opening and on to thedischarge table.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ALBERT R. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

WM. F. Boom, D. B. RICHARDS.

